The Northman

It has been commonly known that the Vikings were a brutal culture, but after viewing "The Northman", it brings that opinion to a whole new level. This is a film about Viking life back around 1000 A.D. where it concentrates on betrayal and vengeance all in a world that, compared to today's culture, is savage like where it's basically every man for himself. 

Prince Amleth (Oscar Novak) is on the verge of becoming a man when his father King Aurvandill War-Raven (Ethan Hawke) is brutally murdered by his uncle Fjolvir (Claes Bang), who kidnaps the boy's mother Queen Gudrun (Nicole Kidman). Two decades later, Amleth (Alexander Skarsgard) is now a Viking who's on a mission to save his mother, kill his uncle and avenge his father. This is set in 10th century Iceland which is fraught with violence, vengeance and vastness, which, incidentally is a legend that inspired Shakespeare's "Hamlet". 

Others to round out the cast are Anya Taylor-Joy as Olga of the Birch Forest, Gustav Lindh as Thorir the Proud, Elliott Rose as Gunnar, Willem Dafoe as Heimir the Fool, Phill Martin as Hallgrimr Half-Troll, Eldar Skar as Finnr the Nose -Stub, Olwen Fouere as Ashilour Hofgythja, Edgar Abram as Hersveinn Battle Hard and Jack Gassmann as Hjaiti Battle Nasty. 

This was grittily and brutally directed by visionary Robert Eggers ("The Witch" '15, "The Lighthouse" '19) plus shorts and a video short. This filmmaker is a visionary director much like Guy Ritchie is with his films. Their approaches are a different style, but their films are definitely created in a 'splashy' sort of way. The photography by Jarin Blaschke and editing by Louise Ford combined was stunning as it was powerful, and this is certainly the work of creative directing. It was effectively written by Sjon ("Dancer in the Dark" 2000, "Regina" '01, "Reykjavik Whale Watching Massacre" '09, "Fiskar a burro Landi" (TV movie) '13, "Lamb" '21) plus a short and a music video, and Eggers ("The Witch" '15, "The Lighthouse" '19) plus shorts and a video short. Interestingly, this was written is several 'chapters' giving us different aspects of these lives involved and what they went through to its ultimate climax, and then they were able to intertwine the chapters and ended up with a very taut, headstrong script that allows the audience to see what it had to be like to be a Viking and experience their world more than a 1000 years ago. Other than a couple of very small places of inconsistencies, and the fact that it could've been cut about 5+ minutes, this was a spot on screenplay. 

If you thought we live in a society where the crime is running off the charts, you need to see this. The brutal violence in this is simply the way the Viking and other countries lived their lives. This film left me thinking that our society isn't so bad--in comparison. This was a visual feast for the eyes and the performance by Skarsgard was stunning. 

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                                              Rated: R                                               137mins.